Stuff and things and weirdness.
Dec. 8th, 2004 04:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reynardoTonight I wasn't working, but ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sarin_girl was, and we tend to meet up about once a week at a 24 hour diner in town to swap gossip, complain about work and generally hang out. Occasionally we are joined by a couple of my workmates, and the waiter is cute and the jukebox fairly cheesy, so a good time is had.
Tonight was no exception.sarin_girl and I chatted for about an hour, I filled her on on the weekend at sandypawozbun's place and the antics of various creatures and people there, then Ren and Paul joined us and talk shifted more to work stuff and her applying for a job at my workplace. We finished up around 2:30am and I offered to drive her home.
I should at this point explain that the area thatsarin_girl lives is the back of one of the less savoury areas in Sydney. Known colloquially as Kings Cross, it is the hub of the working girls, the strip clubs, and for some reason the schoolkid excursion hotels (The hotels are cheap and people from other states reason that the money saved is worth the slight problem of getting hordes of adolescent schoolboys past all the entrances to dubious clubs run by prominent Sydney identities). She lives more towards the harbour end, and has told me that she never cops any trouble from the locals sleeping out under the rail bridge or the tranny workers who ply their trade at the end of her street. So I tend to be fairly aware of what's happening, but not worried, when I drop her home and then sneak through the laneway back onto William Street, there to turn right towards Darlinghurst, South Dowling Street and the way home.
Tonight though, as I reached William St (a wide and one-way road at this point), I could see four people gathered in the middle of the off-ramp that I needed to take up to the overbridge. I took them for inebriated tourists, but as I got closer I could see that one was a woman, crying and obviously distressed, waving her arms and begging for help. I slowed and unlocked the doors so she could jump into the passenger seat, and a man suddenly jumped into the back seat behind me and yelled "Drive on".
I figured I wasn't about to argue, and the other two people nearby (a pair of men) seemed to have somewhere else to go. The guy in the backseat started comforting the woman (who was nearly hysterical by now) and asking repeatedly to be taken to the police. I, naturally, was more than happy to oblige. The five-minute-or-less drive along Darlinghurst Road to the El Alamein Fountain was punctuated by the woman's crying about some money they had lost, something about the guys pointing a needle at them, and his attempt to still comfort her. Their accents marked them as British Tourists, and from what I could gather, I think he had been attempting to purchase something from some not-very-nice people who had proceeded to then rob the couple of their money and attempt further extortion. The guy had also lost a pair of very expensive sunglasses.
I dropped them opposite the fountain in sight of the Police Station entrance, and they stumbled across the road as I worked out the best way to get back to the main road to home. This necessitated driving down a couple of slim lanes and past a man whose appearance and demeanor made me think he might be one of the two other people involved. However, by this time I had the central locking on and was not stopping for anyone else. The rest of the trip was quite uneventful and I got home about 3am.
Was I foolish picking the couple up? Possibly, but I wasn't going to leave another woman in a vulnerable position in that area. Maybe I should have pulled around the corner and called the police, but that didn't enter my mind at the time. I hope those two are all right, and have exchanged a pair of sunglasses and some cash for some seriously-needed wisdom. I hope the other two guys get caught. I hope my friend never finds herself in that situation.
And I hope if ever I'm in need of a fast car out of a dangerous situation, that someone else one day stops and yells "Get in".
sarin_girl was, and we tend to meet up about once a week at a 24 hour diner in town to swap gossip, complain about work and generally hang out. Occasionally we are joined by a couple of my workmates, and the waiter is cute and the jukebox fairly cheesy, so a good time is had.Tonight was no exception.
sarin_girl and I chatted for about an hour, I filled her on on the weekend at sandypawozbun's place and the antics of various creatures and people there, then Ren and Paul joined us and talk shifted more to work stuff and her applying for a job at my workplace. We finished up around 2:30am and I offered to drive her home.I should at this point explain that the area that
sarin_girl lives is the back of one of the less savoury areas in Sydney. Known colloquially as Kings Cross, it is the hub of the working girls, the strip clubs, and for some reason the schoolkid excursion hotels (The hotels are cheap and people from other states reason that the money saved is worth the slight problem of getting hordes of adolescent schoolboys past all the entrances to dubious clubs run by prominent Sydney identities). She lives more towards the harbour end, and has told me that she never cops any trouble from the locals sleeping out under the rail bridge or the tranny workers who ply their trade at the end of her street. So I tend to be fairly aware of what's happening, but not worried, when I drop her home and then sneak through the laneway back onto William Street, there to turn right towards Darlinghurst, South Dowling Street and the way home.Tonight though, as I reached William St (a wide and one-way road at this point), I could see four people gathered in the middle of the off-ramp that I needed to take up to the overbridge. I took them for inebriated tourists, but as I got closer I could see that one was a woman, crying and obviously distressed, waving her arms and begging for help. I slowed and unlocked the doors so she could jump into the passenger seat, and a man suddenly jumped into the back seat behind me and yelled "Drive on".
I figured I wasn't about to argue, and the other two people nearby (a pair of men) seemed to have somewhere else to go. The guy in the backseat started comforting the woman (who was nearly hysterical by now) and asking repeatedly to be taken to the police. I, naturally, was more than happy to oblige. The five-minute-or-less drive along Darlinghurst Road to the El Alamein Fountain was punctuated by the woman's crying about some money they had lost, something about the guys pointing a needle at them, and his attempt to still comfort her. Their accents marked them as British Tourists, and from what I could gather, I think he had been attempting to purchase something from some not-very-nice people who had proceeded to then rob the couple of their money and attempt further extortion. The guy had also lost a pair of very expensive sunglasses.
I dropped them opposite the fountain in sight of the Police Station entrance, and they stumbled across the road as I worked out the best way to get back to the main road to home. This necessitated driving down a couple of slim lanes and past a man whose appearance and demeanor made me think he might be one of the two other people involved. However, by this time I had the central locking on and was not stopping for anyone else. The rest of the trip was quite uneventful and I got home about 3am.
Was I foolish picking the couple up? Possibly, but I wasn't going to leave another woman in a vulnerable position in that area. Maybe I should have pulled around the corner and called the police, but that didn't enter my mind at the time. I hope those two are all right, and have exchanged a pair of sunglasses and some cash for some seriously-needed wisdom. I hope the other two guys get caught. I hope my friend never finds herself in that situation.
And I hope if ever I'm in need of a fast car out of a dangerous situation, that someone else one day stops and yells "Get in".
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 10:22 am (UTC)but I'm glad you're okay, and I think you did the right thing..
though I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to do so..
Also.. I'd like to point out.. it's a very long street I live on,
one end does have the trannies, and the other end has the multi-million dollar wharf Russel Crowe lives on.. so I'm not totally ghetto! : )
no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 02:38 pm (UTC)*pats relatively nice, quiet, boring Perth*
no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 08:31 pm (UTC)I think you did the right thing and I'd be surprised if you did otherwise, seeing a woman in distress. It must have been scary when the bloke jumped in behind you - damn backpackers, especially the Brits, they tend to take silly risks. I found the UK so incredibly safe compared to Australia (and KC in particular). I hope they're more careful from now on. This is yet another reason why we need to de-criminalise drugs: it brings otherwise law-abiding citizens into contact with criminal elements (I'm assuming that's what they thought they were doing).
no subject
Date: 2004-12-07 10:13 pm (UTC)As for Bad People jumping into your car and demanding that you 'drive on' just remember that Bad People rarely wear seat belts.
-m
no subject
Date: 2004-12-09 03:25 pm (UTC)Well done.
I believe there is a little thing called an "Australian Bravery Award" for people like yourself.